Employees of the Starbucks on 20th Street South in Birmingham overwhelmingly voted to form a union by a vote of 27-1 becoming the first Starbucks store in the state to unionize once the tally is certified.
Alex McGucken, a shift supervisor at the Starbucks at 308 20th St. S., said 27 workers voted to form a union, one voted against it and two votes were challenged and not counted.
“What we are is just an amalgamation of awesome people, and a lot has gone wrong in the world at a systemic level, we’ve lost that connection, we’re no longer a community, some of us feel like machines,” McGucken said following the vote. “Right now we’re going to be partners. We want to make history and do the right thing.”
McGucken said he wasn’t sure how quickly the store’s union could negotiate with Starbucks but “we’re willing to bargain in full faith and as fast as we are allowed to.”
The National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the vote, did not make a statement or confirm the vote to reporters waiting outside for the results. The board also did not allow press to witness the counting of the votes.
After certification, the workers would be represented by Workers United, Southern Regional Joint Board, according to NLRB documents.
The employees had the backing of Mayor Randall Woodfin, who publicly expressed his solidarity with the workers on multiple occasions.
Kadarius Perkins, a shift supervisor at the Starbucks, raised his fist as he exited the store and the count was complete.
“Our voices will be heard,” he said, adding that he and his coworkers “want to see a better company entirely.”
Perkins said his pay was not his main gripe with Starbucks.
“For me, personally, it’s not about the money, it’s about the level of respect,” he said.
Perkins said he feared retaliation from management for complaining about racial discrimination at the store.
Alex Buford, a Starbucks employee for three years who transferred to the Birmingham store six months ago, also cited racial discrimination as a major issue.
“There’s a lot of racial issues that we’ve been dealing with, managers purposely cutting our hours, attacking us for no reason,” she said. “A lot of us have complained and the managers, they’re just not hearing us out, or they’re not really listening to us, or they say they’re listening but they’re not really listening.”
McGucken said he hoped the success of the Birmingham store would spread to other Starbucks in Alabama.
“I will definitely say other stores should reach out to us because we’re here to help,” he said.
